ARTICLES ABOUT PROTEST BY DATE - PAGE 4

Brazilian police and protesters clashed on Thursday just hours before the opening game of the World Cup, injuring at least five people, although excitement began to build elsewhere as cheering, flag-waving fans converged on the stadium. The tournament has been largely overshadowed so far by construction delays and months of political unrest with many Brazilians furious over $11 billion being spent to host the Cup in a country where hospitals and schools are often poor. Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and noise bombs to disperse more than 100 demonstrators who gathered in eastern Sao Paulo, about six miles (10 km)

The recent suspension of a soccer club from using a Homer Township park drew a large crowd to a township board meeting this week amid cries that certain requirements pose an unfair burden on the group. Homer Soccer Club was notified last week by letter that it could no longer use Morris Park, 15365 W. 163rd St., because it failed to provide requested documents, including proof of insurance, a roster of members and proof of health inspections, said township clerk Linsey Sowa after the meeting.

Taxi drivers sowed traffic chaos in Europe's top cities on Wednesday by mounting one of the biggest protests ever against Uber , a U.S. car service whose smartphone app summons rides at the touch of a button. Hundreds of licensed black taxis snarled traffic in the streets around Trafalgar Square in central London, hooting their horns as they passed Downing Street, home of Prime Minister David Cameron, and the Houses of Parliament. In Paris, taxis slowed traffic on major arteries into the city during the morning commute.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China warned Hong Kong on Tuesday that there were limits to its freedom and it should adhere strictly to the law ahead of a planned pro-democracy protest that could end up shutting down part of the financial hub's business district. As the most liberal city on Chinese soil, the former British colony has grappled with Beijing since its return to Chinese rule in 1997 to preserve its freedoms and capitalist way of life under a "one-country, two-systems" formula.

By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND Oregon (Reuters) - Thousands of bicyclists, many of them stark naked, poured into the streets of Portland, Oregon on Saturday night for the 11th annual World Naked Bike Ride, a protest that promotes bike riding as an alternative to driving cars. Nude cyclists with lights flashing in their tire spokes rang bells as they barreled down avenues lined with cheering spectators, while a naked, apparently pregnant woman rode in a bike trailer. "This is a party, but it's also a protest," said Carl Larson, a ride spokesman.

The senseless gun-related mass murders in California are a symptom of a very sick society where such tragedies now occur without even a whisper of protest. Even those who do protest are drowned out by the strident, shrill cries of the Second Amendment gun nuts. Our country is awash in guns, and cowardly politicians are bought and paid for by the National Rifle Association. Any society where citizens' basic rights are denied at the point of a gun can no longer be considered civil. Unless we somehow awaken to this threat, I truly believe our society is in danger of total collapse.

By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - Early last month, 15 people went to a Beijing apartment to mark the 25th anniversary of the crushing of pro-democracy protests around Tiananmen Square. Among them were scholars, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer, writers and the mother of a student who was killed by soldiers on June 4, 1989. A few days later, five were in police detention after a photograph of the gathering circulated on the Internet. They were charged with "causing a disturbance", a crime that carries a jail term of up to five years.

By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Police in Brazil's biggest city are seeking to arrest and jail a hard core of violent street protesters before the World Cup starts in two weeks, using wiretaps and other surveillance in an effort to prevent clashes from spoiling the tournament. Fernando Grella, the head security official for Sao Paulo state, told Reuters that police are assembling possible criminal cases against a small number of protest leaders, perhaps a few dozen, who he said are conspiring to "commit violent acts, break things, vandalize and attack people.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - About 600 Sudanese protesters chanted and waved banners and flags after Friday prayers in the capital Khartoum, demanding the release of opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi who was arrested two weeks ago. Mahdi, head of the opposition Umma Party, was detained after the public prosecutor opened an investigation into charges he insulted state security forces over a surge in violence in the western Darfur region. Mahdi served as prime minister in Sudan's last elected civilian government before he was overthrown by current President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 1989.

By Mabvuto Banda LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi police shot dead a protester on Friday after clashing with dozens of people who barricaded roads with burning tyres demanding a recount of a disputed May 20 presidential election, police officials said. The impoverished southern African nation was awaiting a court decision later on Friday on whether the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) should the result or order a recount. Demonstrators in the Mangochi district, in the southern part of Malawi, smashed shop windows and burned tyres along the road, prompting police to fire tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.